


Temple Garden

by pok3d3x



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Awkwardness, Confessions, Cute, F/F, Fluff, Love Confessions, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Shyness, kind of, selesbians - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 23:09:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10684815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pok3d3x/pseuds/pok3d3x
Summary: Nissa found her way to a Selesnyan Grove and met Emmara once. And then again. She's come to find talking to Emmara soothing, and they've gotten rather close, close enough to chat about things that are hard for Nissa to put into words.





	Temple Garden

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this one-shot because I was taking sketch requests, and one of them lead to me thinking over how cute they would be together.
> 
> http://tamiyos-pokedex.tumblr.com/post/159804401339/bace-jeleren-whoops-i-accidentally-wrote-a is said sketch that lead to this story. Thank you for giving it a read. Hope you like it!

”I just don’t know how to live here... In the tenth...” Nissa was nervous. Speaking about something that was personal and uncomfortable felt unnatural. She forced down a sip of tea to take her mind off of what she was doing.

Regardless her feelings of Liliana, the advice the older planeswalker had dispensed was proving to be invaluable. It was hard, but she forced herself to talk about things she felt inclined to bottle up with people she trusted. Emmara had become one of those people.

They'd met on a chance encounter when Nissa had been searching for nature desperately in Ravnica's cold cityscape. She'd happened upon a Grove of the Conclave, where a certain elf had been devoutly tending to the Garden of Life. They sat in that very grove now, and Nissa felt the need to push herself to grow much like the plants around her. She more confidently stated," I can't understand life here, how others live."

“There’s more to life than just living,” Emmara responded sagely.

Nissa gave Emmara a puzzled look and pulled away slightly. That she was pulling away at all was odd. She had become so close Emmara in such a short time, she found herself able to curl up beside her, in the midst of elementals they called to tidy the grove. The closeness was strange—but it also reminded her of Ashaya. 

Emmara too was wise and silently powerful. Her shoulders often squared with pride, not aggression, and yet Nissa could see the strength the waif form held. When she spoke, Nissa could hear the wisdom her words held and the experience they were burdened with and exalted by.

"You need to find what gives your life meaning. For me, it's order. By growing the plants I look after in a row, I provide each one equal nutrients and care. Order brings peace to the living."

Nissa listened to all Emmara had to say before considering her own response. She mulled over for the perfect words, which usually caused her anxiety since people tended to get impatient with her. Emmara didn't though, she was happy to wait and hear Nissa's completed thought. Maybe it was an elf thing; she hung out with mostly humans these days.

"Sometimes I can't see the order around me—it makes me uncomfortable because I don't understand. I want to… To understand, that is. Perhaps if I did, I could be comfortable even when I'm not the same. I wouldn't be afraid if I understood."

Emmara nodded then said softly," Order acknowledges that we're all the same, but that personal experiences are unique. All life should be cherished, even if we could not live as another does. I think you understand more than you believe you do."

"There was a time I definitely did not," Nissa said, a bit of regret curling her lips. She pressed back against Emmara once more and took a sip of her tea. She was embarrassed admitting it, her cheeks and ears burning slightly, but she pulled through and said," I think I was very close minded. Even before… I traveled alone for a very long time… I kept to myself. I listened to what my people told me to believe, and felt shame for being different, thought less of people who were even more different than myself.

"It wasn't until great strife afflicted us all that I began to realize I'm not so different from humans, merfolk, ko—" Nissa's tongue tripped as her brain frantically began to search for another race Zendikar and Ravnica shared. "Krokt-damned vampires even."

Nissa's mouth was certainly never as foul as Chandra's and she didn't like to take names in vain, but she was pretty sure she'd heard Jace and Gideon throw that name around and it covered her slip up. 

She bit her lip as she played back her words to herself. She was grateful Emmara gave her the time to do this, to figure out what she liked and didn't like about how she spoke and presented herself. Having time to analyze what she said helped her reflect on how she could improve in the future. Talking this much made her throat sore as it was, thus the tea Emmara always offered.

"Still, I am judgemental," she lamented.

"Breaking habits comes with time," Emmara said with a small smile. "It's a daily struggle, in fact. And it will be for life."

"I'm starting to see that," Nissa sighed, her ear drooping slightly.

"But I think you're on a beautiful journey. One of self discovery. Follow it, let it take you new places."

Nissa regarded Emmara ruefully, thinking wryly if only Emmara knew Nissa's secret and how right she was. Nissa had been to new places already on this journey, and she was sure she would be going new places very soon again. It pulled at her heart oddly as she thought how Emmara was another she would have to leave behind as she lived her life. Like Ashaya, who could not be replaced by the elementals she rose here.

"Thank you, Emmara. These chats… they help me find peace, discover…" Nissa shook her head, feeling silly. She wasn't sure if 'chats' was the right word—it felt more important than that, but Chandra had jokingly told Nissa her use of the word 'dialogues' was too… stiff… the other day, and Nissa didn't want to come off as distant to Emmara—and she couldn't find a way to properly convey, _you help me discover how I feel, how I_ want _to feel, and how to find the balance in between._

"I'm glad you discovered this grove," Emmara said graciously, covering Nissa's awkward trailing off that only made the planeswalker more nervous as the awkward silence threatened to spread.

"M-me too," Nissa said, in a rare moment of speaking faster than she could think and tripping over her words.

"And I am glad anytime you come to talk with me." Emmara suddenly seemed a little more demure than she had so far into the evening. "When you're not here, I think of you. I really enjoy your company, especially on quiet nights like these. Whether we talk or merely meditate… I want you to know it helps me find peace as well."

Emmara spoke clearly for Nissa's benefit, striving not to beat around the bush and cause confusion. She also spoke for her own benefit though. The thought that Nissa may come around more often excited her, made her feel a sense of stability and warmth she missed.

She still grieved Calomir's death, as she could only assume she always would, and once she would have been able to rely on her friend, Jace, for support, but he had become distant. She saw him at Guildmeets, but it was on official business only. Emmara was so lonely these days, and after how she was abandoned by her guild during the Implicit maze, it was hard to rely on them for support. 

Nissa stared into Emmara's milky eyes, deciphering the expression of pain that slowly took residence. "You… are as lonely as I am," Nissa concluded, frowning as Emmara nodded as confirmation. Handing off her her cup of tea to a nearby vine, Nissa hesitantly placed a hand on Emmara's knee like she'd seen the others in the Gatewatch reassuringly grab each other's shoulders and hands.

"You needn't be any longer," Nissa boldly decided, then continued," I may have to leave for my work occasionally, but I will always come back, if you would have me."

Emmara's gaze dropped to the hand on her knee as she readjusted her grip on her tea. Her own hand, warm from gripping the mug of tea, gently alighted on Nissa's. Squeezing softly, Emmara earnestly said," You're always welcome here. I would like that very much."


End file.
